Surat: Ankur Bhattacharjee has colored a small tuft of hair on the side of his head. He sports a shiny stud on his left ear and flaunts a host of tattoos on his left arm. And during a table tennis match, more often than not, he turns to his teammates and lets out a loud roar with a clenched fist after winning a point.
It’s all a part of his style, he says.
“Everything comes from me being a fan of Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli,” said the 18-year-old table tennis player to HT. “I like showing that aggression as well when I play.”
There was plenty of that aggression on display on Wednesday, at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium in Surat, where he helped the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) win the men’s team title at the 86th Senior National Championships.
Watching the world No.175 from the team dugout was his teammate Achanta Sharath Kamal.
“You don’t feel the need to give him any suggestions,” Sharath said to this publication after the match. “We just keep telling him to go for his shots.”
Bhattacharjee’s game style can be a handful for opponents. He’s quick across the table and varies the spin and placement at will within the same rally. And his backhand in particular is powerful, accurate and sharp enough to get him out of difficult situations.
“To have that touch, control and power… he can play different speeds, lengths and spins from different distances of the table,” Sharath adds. “He can go for big shots but he has good control on them. It’s tough to find rhythm with him because you don’t know what he’s up to. He’s unpredictable, but has a superb understanding of the game. He does have some weaknesses, but his strengths cover them up very well.”
All this comes from a player who once had no desire to play table tennis. Cricket was where Bhattacharjee’s interests lie, and he asserted that he makes sure he watches every India match even today.
His entry into table tennis though came through his parents – both former national-level players – when he was nine.
“I didn’t want to, but my mother took me to a hall to play,” he recalls. “In that first day of playing, I played a 70-shot rally. That got me interested and I realized that I can be good in it.”
Six months later, he had already become a state youth-level champion and went on to win 20 consecutive tournaments.
The titles have continued to come his way. Just last week, he won the Under-19 boys singles title at the Youth National Championships for a third year in a row. He has also won three consecutive bronze medals at the Junior Asian Championships.
There was also the title at the Under-19 WTT Youth Contender event in Tunisia last year, along with runner-up finishes at the WTT Youth Star Contender events in Doha and Damman. But his attention is steadily shifting towards the senior stream.
He reached the semi-final of the men’s individual event at the Senior Nationals last year. Slowly, he’s learning about the gap between the two age divisions.
“The main difference is the mental aspect,” he said. “The game in the seniors is also very fast and you have to have quick reactions. My forehand has improved, but I will need to improve a lot more on my fitness if I want to play on the senior level.”
The teenager though has to split his time between his academics and sporting pursuits, although he does lean more towards the latter. Still, he does carry his books along with him wherever he goes for tournaments.
In his free time however, he admits getting willingly distracted by table tennis.
“I’m a fan of (three-time Olympic gold medalist) Zhang Jike. Whenever I’m eating or am free, I watch his videos to see how he would play,” he added.
For a player who once longed to play a different sport, he is a promising young talent in table tennis. Importantly, he has realized that, and is looking for ways to fulfill that promise, with one fist-clenched celebration at a time.
